Because I finally gave up on Apple Airpods Pros and took them back( Just couldn’t see myself returning to an iPhone), it looks like I need to get back the Sonys as a top-tier ANC earphone and battery king. The reason is that the Samsung Buds 4 Pro just aren’t great ANC choices. They are good, but not great. But the biggest issue was that the efficiency of the battery was already being affected. I would go from 100% to 98% or lower within 3 minutes or so. This wasn’t happening when I first got them, but already the effective battery life is being affected by the charging and draining of the unit, just in the few weeks I’ve had it.
So yes, I am full circle back to the two main Bluetooth items I had before. But at least with this return, I am more informed. Sony’s battery protection features are turning out to be more needed than I even believed, thanks to the already degrading Samsung battery. Now I’m starting to wonder if the AirPods Pro and Sony’s should be my two relied-upon earphones.
Having them stick out a little more than normal compared to others I’ve had is just something I’m going to have to learn to deal with. The superior sound and ANC are going to be the pillars of this Bluetooth direction moving forward. So the Sonys, of course, will be the main source for this. I had considered the Samsung to be used when traveling out and about locally in my backpack for when I forget my Sonys. But that’s just not going to happen. Even with all the time that I had with the Samsung 4 pros after taking the Sonys back in favor of them, they never really attached to me. I still found more excitement using AirPods on my Samsung phone than using the 4 Pros on my Samsung S25 Ultra.
Overall, the more sophisticated look comes with Sony, of course. I also enjoy that not too many people will be using them versus AirPods. So, a lesson learned, I suppose. I’ve been through all of this and have come to understand that Sony headphones are a better choice that leads to better overall use and longevity, kinda. I say Kinda because I knew this prior.
Honestly, the next step I think I’m going to take is to return the Samsung buds, possibly for the WH-1000XM6. I think rolling with Sony is a better result and direction. I’ve had them before for the trips that I have taken throughout the year, so I think it’s a great investment and a smarter one that I will get the most out of at this moment. I only got rid of them because I thought I wasn’t using them enough at $500. But now I have more trips I have to take for work; things have changed.
Overall, with Sony being universal and able to be used on any phone or laptop, I am very well taken care of and could use them if I truly needed to, especially if I forgot my XM6s buds. I truly love the return policy at Best Buy. I don’t lose my money often when I make the wrong choices. They make it pretty easy to reverse it.
Top wins for the Sony Xm6’s
1 Best sound.
2. Best ANC
3. Best feature set
4. Reads my text
5. Voice controls
6. Gemini AI voice activation
7. Touch controls customized
8. Longevity in battery life and existence.
At the end of the day, I guess this is why I kept telling people, even when I took them back, that the Sonys were the best checked the most boxes earphones on the planet right now as long as they fit your ears. And the reason their nickname remains “The Once and Future King“. It’s only a matter of time before he who is meant to rule remains standing again as the only King.
It’s been over since I first got them, truth be told. I just tried to look at other things and got caught up in the hype of other things. The only thing I could come up with against them was how I have to take my time putting them on and the cut outs that I experienced. But the cutouts I had previously are gone and the extra time putting them into my ears isn’t a flaw more than patience. And if I’m really honest with myself, I actually hate L-shaped buds(I’ve mentioned this before on articles) and pinch controls, and yet I let hype and YouTube convince me to get the Samsung 4 Pros. Now granted the voice command made up for those issue and are still the coolest feature ever added to earphones in my opinion. But touch control are a must, and I’m thankful the majority of the earphones in the world still use it, especially when they give you custom touch controls, link Sonys has done. Now I can have my favorite controls set up with 2 tap being forward track on the right side and 1 tap being rewind on the left side. The quickest taps should be for the most used action in my opinion. Play and pause should be double tap especially when you have pause if removed and press to awareness options like Sony.
Look, I could keep going , it’s been nice, but enough of my time has been wasted on the inevitability of these earphones being the overall best vs others. It’s OVER, I’m DONE. I’M TIRED. Or as my famous hero growing up reminded us….
“Eat your cereal with a fork… And do your homework in the dark.”
Hard Harry
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